Never Gone Review: A Surprisingly Awesome Mobile Beat-Em-Up Game

Never Gone surprised me in a way I haven't yet been surprised by a mobile game. Rather than find it difficult to play because of rickety controls and boring gameplay, I was taken back to a time when I first discovered Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night. And I was pleasantly taken by Never Gone's story.

Never Gone comes from developer Hippie Games and is a hardcore 2D beat-em-up mobile game where you can play as either Blood Knight or Dark Sister in a world constantly torn apart by demons, vampires and humans.

What drew me in immediately was the art style, which oddly enough reminded me a lot of Castlevania games. And I've been known to be a huge Castlevania fan. But what really sold me in Never Gone were the controls.

I rarely ever play beat-em-up games on mobile just because the controls can get confusing or annoying and I end up giving up trying to make it through the gameplay. But I didn't experience that with Never Gone. Instead, I found the controls extremely fluid and smooth and did what I wanted them to do. My fingers weren't slipping around and hitting the wrong buttons. The button placements felt natural to me, which really helped with not hitting wrong buttons. And because of this, I was able to focus more on the gameplay and the story.

Another aspect that really reminded me of Castlevania or Devil May Cry was the rockin' soundtrack. It's so important in gothic games like this to really create a vibe within the gameplay, a tone for players, and the music really did that for me. I almost want to hunt down the soundtrack and find it for my own amusement.

The gameplay itself is easy to understand and though it does get a little repetitive, I just enjoy the fact I can play Never Gone and not have to really think about what I'm doing; it comes naturally. Even as I sit right now sick with a summer cold and my head pounding, I don't mind playing Never Gone and I don't have to rack my brain in trying to figure out what's next in the gameplay.

I am a huge fan of games with gothic settings like this, which is probably why I've enjoyed games like Devil May Cry. But I didn't expect to find something like it that was so well done on the mobile platform. If you've got some time to kill and want to kick some ass and feel like a badass, I highly recommend Never Gone to pass the time. You can check out the trailer below and see for yourself.